Roanoke County Supervisors have postponed a decision on whether to adopt guidelines for invocations at future board meetings. It came after 90 minutes of often impassioned comments from supervisors and citizens.

The proposed policy would allow invocations seeking God’s guidance, but they could not promote or single out any one religion. Even those supervisors who appeared prepared to approve it sounded pained at the prospect but felt the county had little choice, given the likelihood of successful and costly legal challenges without the change.

In the end, they agreed to confer first with Liberty Counsel, which represents governments in such cases, and an evening vote is now scheduled for September 25.